“Dutch researchers coax secrets from Girl with a Pearl Earring”

[Por:]”Mark Brown”

“Although offering insights into the artist’s technique, gallery has yet to solve Vermeer’s biggest mystery

A major research project into one of the world’s most popular and captivating paintings has revealed new secrets but the most tantalising question remains: just who was the girl with a pearl earring?

Researchers at the Mauritshuis gallery in The Hague on Tuesday revealed the results of extensive investigations into its star painting, Johannes Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring, thought to date from about 1665.

The Netherlands’ researchers were stunned to discover, for the first time, delicate eyelashes on the girl’s face and evidence of a green curtain behind her head. They have also gained fresh insights into how Vermeer painted the work, what changes he made and which pigments he used, including discovering that the white for the earring originated in England’s Peak District.

But the biggest mystery endures and that is a good thing, said Abbie Vandivere, the head of The Girl in the Spotlight research project.

“We were able to find out so much about Vermeer’s materials and techniques but we still don’t know exactly who the girl is,” she said. “It is good that some mysteries remain and everyone can speculate about her. It allows people their own personal interpretation of the girl; everyone feels their own connection with the way she meets your eyes.

“The fact that she is still a mystery keeps people coming back and keeps her exciting and fresh.” (...)” (Lido em: Guardian, 2020-01-05)